


Travelin' Soldier

by Jazznsmoke



Series: Bethyl Music Drabbles [13]
Category: The Walking Dead & Related Fandoms, The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Death, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Military, Military AU, diner au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-08
Updated: 2020-03-08
Packaged: 2021-02-28 17:28:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,594
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23060959
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jazznsmoke/pseuds/Jazznsmoke
Summary: Travelin' Soldier by the Dixie Chicks.
Relationships: Daryl Dixon/Beth Greene
Series: Bethyl Music Drabbles [13]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1657267
Kudos: 3





	Travelin' Soldier

**Author's Note:**

> This was a prompt by a bunch of people. It still hurts me in the feels, especially since I now have a brother in the Marines

Daryl had no choice. If he wanted to be out from his father's abuse he had to enlist in the army. So he did. He followed in his older brothers footsteps and joined, although he had no intention of gaining a dishonorable discharge, like Merle had.

Here he is, sitting in a booth in a diner the morning he is to take a bus to his basic training, a week after his eighteenth birthday. He wrapped his fingers around his mug of molten hot coffee and stared off into space. He was brought back from his thoughts by a soft cough at the edge of the booth. He glanced over and felt his heart slam hard against his ribs. The girl, young woman, looked to be about his age, maybe a year or two younger, with golden blonde curly, unruly, hair, that she attempted to control by putting it in a braid. Her eyes, startling and impressively expressive blues.

 _Could get lost in eyes like that,_ He thought before nodding at the girl, his eyes searching for a name tag. Beth.

"Sorry to interrupt your thinkin'. Can I get ya anything?"

"Nah. Wanna sit fer awhile? Feelin' a bit low,"

She glanced at his uniform and to the clock set on the wall. "I'm off in half an hour, I got a place we can go." She graced him with an earth shattering smile.

He couldn't figure out why he was doing something as uncharacteristic as asking her to join him. Maybe the reality of joining the army and his loneliness has gotten the better of him? Whatever the reason he wanted to get to know the shy girl with the smile that rocked his world.

He wants her to smile his way again.

* * *

She noticed the young man with dark, short hair in the back booth with a cup of coffee in hand, looking forlornly at the wall. She can't stand for anyone to look sad or upset. When he asked her to join him, she wanted to do just that, but knew her other customers needed her too, so she offered to take them somewhere once her shift ended.

She got through the last little while of her shift as quickly as she could and caught her relief waitress up. She grabbed her belongings and made her way to the handsome man's table.

"You still want to hang out?" She asked shyly, her purse held in both hands in front of her.

His smile rivaled that of her smile earlier. "Yeah, I do."

"Then let's go."

* * *

Daryl stood and went to the counter, settling his bill before following the blonde to the parking lot.

"Want to take my car?" She asked.

"Yeah, I don't got a car wit' me."

"That makes sense, " She smiled at him as she unlocked her older beat up car. They slid into the car and Beth drove them ten minutes away to a small dirt road off the Georgia highway.

"Where ya takin' me?" Daryl sounded hesitant with his question.

Beth giggled. "I'm not goin' to go axe murderer on ya. 'Sides, I bet you don't have to worry 'bout me takin' advantage o' you," She glanced at his well pronounced arms, covered by his military uniform.

"I suppose ya ain't," They got out of the car and Daryl followed Beth through the trees on a barely there trail to a small clearing with a beautiful natural pond. Daryl looked around in awe. The young man took pride in the fact that he's an amazing hunter and had been through most of the woods in a 75 mile radius, this one spot had been undiscovered by him. "This is amazin'" He admitted, still looking around.

"I found it a few years ago when I went hiking with my older brother an' sister. Come sit with me?"

Daryl crossed the small clearing to the other side of the pond and sat next to Beth. "Thanks fer, uh, bringin' me here." He spoke quietly, like talking any louder would ruin the beauty of the spot.

"I'm glad you asked for me to join you,"

"I'm, uh, Daryl. Daryl Dixon, by the way."

They began to chat, Beth telling him of her two siblings and parents, how she graduates high school in a few months, an early graduate. Daryl surprised himself and told her the reasons why he is joining the military, why he is so desperate to get out of Georgia. "My brother does every drug known ta man, an' ain't ever around. He got out as soon as he could. Our pops is a drunken, abusive bastard. If I don't go I'll end up killing him."

"You're doin' the right thing by leavin', it sounds like."

"Yeah, I suppose so." They sat in silence for a few moments until Daryl spoke again. "Bet you got a boyfriend waitin' on ya,"

"Pfft. No, no boyfriend. The last person I 'dated' was my neighbor, Jimmy an' I've known him my whole life. There wasn't anything special between us."

"I ain't got anyone ta write ta. Could I...um...uh..." He choked on the words, scared she would say no.

"Yeah, you can write me, Daryl Dixon." She smiled at the blushing man seated next to her. They sat at the pond awhile longer until it was time for Daryl to get back to catch the bus. Just before the bus pulled in, Beth scrawled her name, address and phone number on a piece of paper from her purse and handed it to Daryl.

* * *

Daryl wrote Beth every chance he had while at training. He looked forward to every letter he got back from her. Every two weeks she sent him a care package filled with homemade goodies. One day Daryl got the courage to dial the blonde's number and talk to her, not just write her letters.

As soon as he heard her voice on the other end of the phone his heart did a chaotic jig. He realized something when his heart behaved like that. He had fallen head over heels in love with Beth Greene. "'s prolly crazy an' I get it if ya don't wanna talk ta me anymore, Beth, but I'm uh, fallin' for ya. I'm in love wit' ya." He spoke quietly into the phone, afraid of her rejection.

"I love you, Mr. Dixon," She said this a little louder than he had spoken. She had taken to calling him Mr. Dixon, teasingly, after he chastised her for having a beer, only one, at a friend's party.

* * *

Beth lives for the letters and calls from Daryl. She understood his past, and understands his need to be free of his family, supporting him and his choices.

When Daryl confessed to falling for her, she had to fight back the squeal of joy bubbling inside of her. She had fallen for him the moment he asked her to join him at the diner. Her family and friends, aside from her father, Hershel, didn't approve or accept her 'relationship' with the young man. Her father, after a chat with his young daughter, realized how much she loved him and found himself liking Daryl from Beth's descriptions of him and his personality.

Beth received a call one afternoon from Daryl, telling her he would be leaving for Iraq in a few days. Her heart heavy with the news she told him to call and write every chance he could. He promised he would and the first chance he had he would come to visit her, they would go on a proper date.

Seven months into Daryl's deployment there was a knock on the Greene's front door. Beth left her room to see who was there and was greeted by her father and a couple of men in army green. Her knees buckled at the bottom of the stairs. Her daddy caught her and held her in his arms as she cried silently. The men at the door apologized for bringing her such bad news and explained that Daryl had made Beth his contacts for any sort of contingency. They handed her his dog tags and explained that his personal belongings would be shipped to her, and then after apologizing again, left.

Not feeling up to it, but she had made a promise to her nephew, Carl Grimes, went to his football game the Friday night after getting the news about Daryl. The National Anthem was sung and then the mayor stepped forward to announce those dead in the war from their small town. Beth burst into tears as they announced Daryl's name and clutched his dog tags in her hand, the chain biting into her neck.

Her mind went to dark places, thinking about the life they could have shared, the kisses they never had, the hand holding they wouldn't ever get to do. Most of all she hated that she'd never hear his voice again or get another letter from him.

Beth personally delivered the news to Daryl's older brother. She couldn't bear to allow anyone else to do it. Merle and Beth became friends, forging a bond because of their love for Daryl, sharing stories about him to each other. A connection was made between them, linking them as siblings because of Daryl.

She drew comfort in the fact that they shared a pure love, herself and Daryl, and had the chance to know each other, brighten each other's lives as they did. She would wear his dog tags until the day she joined him in Heaven.


End file.
